8th Grade Graduation, Summer in Paris, and LAST Round of Chemo!

In a few minutes, Ryan and I are headed to Institut Curie to start his first day of his sixth and final round of chemotherapy.  Wow.  I don’t even know what to say about that.

So I’ll start with a great big CONGRATULATIONS!!!  To Ryan, and his entire 8th Grade class at Marymount, you have been the most amazing group of young adults - mature, caring and supportive in every way.  If it weren’t for the dedication of his friends, Ryan couldn’t have accomplished all that he did in these past 6 months.  I am so proud of Ryan and honored to be his mom.  Only he and I will ever truly know the amount of work that went into his academics between January and now - studying independently and often feeling isolated from the social interactions of 8th grade, Ryan never gave up, never became discouraged, and did his very best!  During the graduation ceremony, Ryan was honored with a medal for “Courage.”  I can’t think of a more appropriate word to describe his accomplishments in 2016.

Because every 8th Grade Graduate should dance the night away and take selfies at The Eiffel on the Paris Party Bus... 

Ryan’s big brother, Blaise is here in Paris for the next few weeks, and we’ve been enjoying lots of time together.  This weekend, as long as Ryan feels up to it, we’ll try to catch some of the Tour de France in Normandy!

Here’s a very special Shout Out to our favorite pug, Dylan, who sent an awesome package to Ryan this month, all the way from Pennsylvania (…and an even bigger Shout-Out to my college friend Sue and her lovely daughters for taking Dylan to the post office so that he could mail that package to France).  Thank you so much to the incredible Bullick family!

Thanks Dylan!

To all of our friends who continue to support us, who haven’t forgotten that this battle isn’t over, who have tirelessly called, texted, emailed, and sent cards - we love you and we appreciate you more than we can say.  To my best friend Gina, who knows I don’t always have the time (or the keyboard) to write but sends me encouraging and funny emails despite my non-replies - We were BLESSED the day we met in circa 1978!  Thank you for always being there, Lady.

Please keep Ryan in your prayers this month.  The next two weeks of chemo will bring back the pain and cramps and all the other yucky side effects that no child wants to experience.  In a few weeks, he will have his PET and CT scans to show the effects of his treatments.  This will be a nerve-racking time for us, and it will be nice to know that everyone has Ryan in their thoughts as we await the results.  In the mean time, we hope all of our friends and family are enjoying the start to this glorious summer!  School’s out - YAY!